1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system and methods for automating a delivery service.
2. Related Background Art
The prior art in use to send articles such as letters and packages using a postal service typically requires the customer to wait in line until an employee of the service is available to attend to them. Over the past years, these lines have become longer and longer, with the result that the customer spends a long time waiting until an employee is available. If a customer wishes to mail one letter, for example, the employee must greet the customer, weigh the letter, ask if any special services are required and explain these special services, advise the customer of the cost, then finally accept money and give change, or process a credit card transaction. It may take 3 minutes for an employee to attend to a customer who purchases a 44 cent postage stamp, but the cost of the employee's and customer's time is a large multiple of this amount. The business model described above is antiquated. The basic calculation above demonstrates that the prior art results in a financial loss to the delivery service and excess costs to their customers. Significant costs are incurred because the cost for the delivery must be determined prior to accepting a package for delivery. There is an urgent need for a novel system. There is a need for a system that automatically calculates the cost of mailing a letter or package, affixes the postage and processes the costs without the need for mail/delivery system employees to intervene and without the need for the sender of the package to either wait on the availability of a delivery system employee or even wait upon their actions before payment and completion of acceptance of a package for delivery.